Catherine+Sartelopoulos

On July 16, 1913, 24-year-old Catherine Sartelopoulos died in Chicago, at the scene of an abortion perpetrated that day by Dr. Paul Ackerman. Ackerman was arrested and held by the Coroner for murder on August 8. Spiros Glambedakos was arrested as an accessory. Dr. Jacques Moses was also arrested in connection with the case.

Ackerman was indicted by a Grand Jury on August 15, but the case never went to trial.

(Note: The //Day Book// identifies the dead woman as Catherine Madelopodo, age 30. At least I'm assuming it's the same woman, since the date of death is the same, the names of the arrested men are the same, and the date of arrest is the same, as the original source.)

Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, see [|Abortion Deaths 1910-1919].

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion]

Source:
 * Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

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